The Madonnalisa Smile
by RoyalDarkness01
Summary: 'If I only could make a deal with God to get him to swap our places, maybe then I could see that Madonnalisa smile that makes you so beautiful,' he whispered in her ear.


**The Madonnalisa Smile**|

**A/N: Sorry if this story seemed at all confusing to you guys :/ I kinda just wrote it spur of the moment, but don't worry, this is the re-written version and the less-confusing version lol. Still the same. Rating it T for now. The main characters are Damon and Elena, but as you guys will soon see, it's really Damon, John, Elena, Alaric, and Stefan.**

**Summary: **_John Gilbert sacrifices his life for his daughter, Elena, after she dies during the sacrifice caused by Klaus. John leaves Elena an arsenal of weapons, his journal and pretty much everything he owned in his will. Elena discovers these items, reads the letter he wrote her before his death and has a change of heart over her father. She reads his letters and begins to question whether she should really trust the Salvatores or if she should finish what her father started and stake them for the vampires they are. Deals are made, bonds are forged, kisses are given. The Madonna Lisa smiles._

**Crappy summary, I know. Still figuring it out though, so please forgive.**

**Chapter One | Running Up That Hill**

_If I only could_

_Make a deal with God_

_To get Him to switch our places._

_Keep running up that road,_

_Running up that hill,_

_Running up that building,_

_If I only could, oh._

Elena Gilbert stood at her window, checking the chambers of her revolver. Her dark, coffee-brown eyes glinted in the sunlight. She was dressed in a pair of straight-legged, dark-washed jeans, a lacy red tank with a white camisole underneath and a soft, snug black leather jacket with the sleeves rolled up to the elbows. She'd straightened her hair that day; the dark brown tresses were pulled over one shoulder, her bangs almost hiding her right eye.

"Elena?" She heaved a sigh when she heard the voice of her biological father at the doorway. She reluctantly looked towards the door. A man ten years her senior stood at the door. His eyes were one shade lighter hazel than blue diamonds and jade. He was dressed in black jeans, a gunmetal grey dress shirt with the first two buttons undone and a suede jacket. His light brown hair was cropped short, though a little whispy. He wore on the ring finger of his left hand a large silver ring set with an oval-cut blue diamond.

"What, _John_?" she hissed his name like a curse, in no mood to speak with him of all people. Elena rolled her eyes, shaking her head in disdain. John swallowed, his Adam's apple bobbing as he watched his daughter standing by the window, checking her rounds.

"May I speak with you for a moment?" He dropped his gaze and waited for a response.

"All the time in the world," she grunted, setting the gun on her bedside table. John took a deep breath to calm his heart's rapid beating. He walked closer to where Elena stood and glanced out the window.

"Elena, I know I'm asking enough of you just to come and talk, but I just—I-please just hear your father out, sweetheart, please?" John began. Elena looked up from her gun to him, her dark eyes glinting with hatred.

"My father died in a car crash," she whispered, taking off the necklace Stefan had given her.

"It's my blood runs through your veins, Elena. Love me or hate me, that's the fact, sweetheart," sighed John. "Please, I just want you to hear me out before you start damning me to hell." His daughter jumped onto her bed and shifted onto her side, her back to him, her long silky, chocolate brown hair glistening in the sun. "Elena, I love you. More than you know. Everything I've done has been for you—"

"Leave." Elena covered her face with the raggedy teddy bear. Several more moments passed in which John remained, furrowing and un-furrowing his eyebrows in confusion. "LEAVE!" she growled, pushing herself up on one elbow to gaze at him, the Petrova fire burning in her eyes. John looked at his feet, clenching his jaw. He didn't need to be told three times. His shoulders drooped; he nodded once, sadly, on his way out. He paused at the doorway, taking a breath to speak, but fishing for the Petrova book Damon gave her, she chucked the projectile at him. John quickly slipped through the space and shut the door behind him, flinching at the thud of the book hitting the door. He shoved his hands in his pockets and headed downstairs without a look behind.

_It doesn't hurt me _

_You want to feel, how it feels? _

_You want to know, know that it doesn't hurt me? _

_You want to hear about the deal I'm making?_

John glanced to the left and right—checking to be sure he didn't run into either Salvatore—before he departed the boarding house and headed for the Bennett's. Within fifteen minutes, he'd reached the house and was standing out on the porch, knocking on the door. Bonnie opened the door, her jade green eyes narrowed when she recognized him.

"What do you want, John?" she asked steely. John gave a small, sad smile before answering.

"I need a favor, Miss Bennett," he said quietly. Here Bonnie crossed her arms, a 'No' almost instinctively slipping from her lips. "It's about Elena." The flash of pain in his hazel eyes softened the Bennett witch's heart the slightest bit.

"What's wrong? Have you done something to her?" she queried. John shook his head.

"Besides abandoning her for most of her precious life? No, I haven't. Fairly soon, Klaus will arrive in Mystic Falls, I believe, and when he does, he'll want to sacrifice my daughter, the doppelganger, to break the curse. I know the Doppelganger must die for the curse to be broken, but out of fatherly, selfish love," John remarked, "I don't want her to die. You'll find that neither do the Salvatores. On the same note, if there is a spell you can cast that will save Elena's life no matter the circumstances; I would ask that you cast it." Bonnie raised an eyebrow as he spoke.

"There is one spell. It's called a 'vital force transitional curse'. That's the closest thing I can think of to your description. I can't cast it on the Salvatores—Damon or Stefan—because, since they're both undead, they have no vital force I could transition into Elena. You would be the only other conceivable donor," the witch continued. "If I were to cast it on you, I would be binding your vital force to Elena's; this means, that if she dies during the Sacrifice, she will fall into a deep sleep in which your vital force will be transitioned to her body. When she wakes, you will die, Mr. Gilbert."

John only nodded his head. "So be it."

}{-}{-}{

_You, you and me_

_And if I only could _

_Make a deal with God _

_get him to swap our places _

_Be running up that road _

_Be running up that hill _

_Be running up that building _

_If I only could, oh..._

John sat down in the chair provided by Bonnie; she placed her hands on his shoulders and began to whisper the spell in Latin. John caught the lights flickering and raised an eyebrow, his heartbeat accelerating.

"Easy, easy," Bonnie murmured, chuckling lightly before resuming the spell. He felt a short quick discomfort like unto the prick of a needle, and with that, the spell had been cast. "It's done. Your life is linked to your daughter's now. If she dies in the Sacrifice, it will be your life that saves her." John stood up, shaking her hand.

"Thank you, Miss Bennett. You've no idea how much this means to me," John grinned before departing. He returned to the boarding house and went down to the basement, muttering phrases under his breath on the way down. He shut the door behind him and locked it before pulling out a metal box full of precious things. He began to remove things from the box. He removed an object wrapped completely in black silk and laid it on the table. Next he fished the Gilbert pocket watch from his pocket and set it down near the black silk. He also removed the Gilbert compass from the box and put it with the watch and the silky. He removed two weapons—one, a stake crafted from finest silver engraved with the name of 'Elena Jessamine Gilbert'; and two, a beautiful silver revolver with nine chambers—three holding wooden bullets, three holding those of silver with a slender pair of boxes containing 18 rounds of silver bullets and 18 rounds of wooden bullets. He placed all the things he had taken out into a black leather knapsack which he set on the floor by his feet.

Now, he moved to a closet towards the far end of the room and scanned the shelves for what he was looking for. He dropped to a crouch to pull out a box filled with cherry bombs and grenades. A grin spread across his face. He picked up one of the bombs and shook it near his ear, listening to the liquid vervain jostling about inside. He grabbed seven bombs and seven grenades and dropped all fourteen into the knapsack, careful not to crush the other items. With his foot, he pushed the box of weapons back into its slot and closed the closet. Looking over his shoulder to be sure no one had followed or broken in, he pushed in a brick near the closet. The loose brick slipped out of its placing to reveal an object wrapped in white silk. John took this and placed it also in the black knapsack. He slung the knapsack over his shoulder, sat down at the table, found a slip of parchment and pen and began to write.

_I hear the angels talking, talking, talking_

_Now I'm a dead man walking, walking, walking_

_I hear the angels talking, talking, talking_

_Now I'm a dead man_

_Am I dead man now, left living with the shame?_

}{-}{-}{

[Evening, The Sacrifice]

Klaus smiling terrifyingly at Elena, wiping the wolf blood from his lips. He stepped through the fire, advancing on her, a guttural chuckle grating from his throat as his fangs extended. Bonnie was far off to the right, encased in a circle of fire, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"ELENA!" she screamed as the fire flickered and increased. Elena lowered her gaze, her heart pounding so loud she was sure the Salvatores could hear. The two boys were off to the left, lashed to the trees with ropes soaked in vervain. Stakes had been thrust into the both of them, near enough to scrape their hearts. Her heart quickened. Klaus was now directly face to face with her, one hand caressing the silky softness of her cheek. His fingers combed through her hair, his eyes flickering over his face. His hand drifted to her shoulder, gripping her shoulder.

"Charlotte…Katerina…Elena…" Klaus chanted sadistically, his face a mask. He whipped out a silver dagger and plunged it into her heart. Complete silence fell, even the flames went out. Klaus only grinned and sank his fangs into her neck, drinking her blood deeply. When he had drunk his fill, he discarded the Petrova's shell, and disappeared.

Damon's mournful cry was what broke the silence. Bonnie pelted across the way, slashing the Salvatores' bonds. Damon pushed past Stefan and ran to Elena, dropping to his knees to cradle her in his arms. Stefan came up soon enough, extending a hand to touch her dead, but Damon growled.

"Touch her, and you're next," he growled unconvincingly, holding his angel close, so close. Tears began to slip down his cheeks, and he closed his eyes, kissing Elena's cold forehead. Still holding her in his arms, he rose to his feet and headed for the boarding house. Stefan carried Jenna in his arms, followed by Bonnie trailing behind. When they reached the house, Damon kicked open the door and sat down on the floor in the parlor, one hand stroking her hair. "I'll stay here with her," Damon grunted, excusing the other two. Stefan nodded and went to take care of Jenna, Bonnie awkwardly went upstairs. Damon was left alone with the body of his angel, waiting, hoping his blood would do the trick, would save her life.

}{-}{-}{

[Morning, next day]

A knock at the door called Damon to attention.

"STEF! Get the door!" he growled. Stefan flashed downstairs and opened the door, disapproval flashing over his face as he stepped aside to allow entry. "John…what the hell do you want?" John said nothing, only moved forward slowly, his face saddening as he beheld his daughter so lifeless.

"To hold her," John murmured. Damon raised an upset eyebrow, muttering things about how he had tried to kill both him and his brother, regardless of whether he was Elena's father or not, before he got up and placed Elena in her father's arms. John held her close and lifted a hand to stroke her cheek, brushing away a tear on her eyelashes. He leaned down and kissed her nose, a tear running down his cheek. "When she wakes, tell her—tell Elena that her father, John Gilbert, I—tell her I love her, and give her my will; it's in the basement," John said, handing her back to Damon. Damon nodded silently, not sure of what to say. John nodded and stepped outside, turning to the sunrise. His heart felt bruised when he caught sight of the golden, blushing rays. He remembered what few days he would hold his baby girl in his arms, her large brown eyes bright, when he would stand outside with her and together, they would watch the sunrise.

Meanwhile, Damon sat back down, holding Elena, watching her, waiting.

John turned around, glancing at the Salvatores beholding his daughter. He began to turn back around, but as he did, his knees buckled and he collapsed, his eyes drifting closed as Bonnie's spell took effect. Moments later, his daughter awoke in Damon's arms, gasping for breath—only alive now because of her father's sacrifice.

"Wha—what happened?" Elena gasped, her eyes wide, her eyebrows twitching as she took in her surroundings. Damon and Stefan breathed a sigh of relief.

"You scared me, that's what happened, love," Damon chuckled. "No, but really, Klaus apparently "killed" you to break the curse that prevents vampires from walking around in the sun…"

"Apparently?"

"Your father literally sacrificed his life for you," Damon said, a bit more seriously. "He saw Bonnie yesterday and had her cast the 'vital force transitional curse' on him, which linked his life to yours. So after Klaus plunged the silver dagger through your heart, instead of dying, you fell asleep; when you woke this morning, John's vital force was transitioned to you, so his life ended the very moment yours began. He loves you, Elena. He wanted me to tell you that…" Elena rose silently and walked to where John lay. She turned him over onto his back and just looked at him, a lump forming in her throat. She caught something glinting in the sunlight; an oval locket hanging around his neck. She reached down and opened the locket, narrowing her eyes to distinguish the pictures in them. On the left was a picture of her mother, Isobel, laughing. She was younger then, a little older than Elena was now. On the right was a picture of John kissing a blushing Isobel on the cheek. Unhindered, a tear slipped down Elena's cheek.

"He didn't have to do this," she said thickly, unclasping his necklace. "He must have written out a will. Did he tell you where it was?" she asked Damon, her eyes on the locket in her hands.

"In the basement, I think he said."

"I'll go myself and take a look at it," Elena asserted before he made a move to escort her.

}{-}{-}{

She descended the stairs to the basement, her heart rate picking up. She moved to the desk, where she saw a chair ajar and John's jacket draped over the back of the chair. She sat down, her eyes drifting over a letter he had no doubt written for her. She folded the letter up in the way she'd found it, deciding to save it for later. Then, her gaze drifted to a leather-bound journal with sheaves of paper sticking out. On the cover, there was a sticky note with 'Elena: Hope this clears things up a bit' written in black Sharpie. She slipped the letter into the journal and then got up, now deciding to take a look at the open closet. On the floor, she spotted a black leather knapsack heavy with contents she had yet to investigate. Elena slung the knapsack over her shoulder; she knew it had been her father's because she remembered recently seeing him with it. Just beneath the knapsack, she caught sight of a large manila envelope labeled 'WILL' in John's cursive. She took this too and closed the closet and the door to the basement behind her when she left.

She immediately went up to her room without a word to the Salvatores, shut her door and locked it to ensure complete privacy. With that, she sat down at her bed, set the knapsack and the will beside her, opened the journal and read the letter she'd seen on his desk.

_Elena,_

_It's no easy task being an ordinary parent to an extraordinary child. I failed in that task. And because of my prejudices, I failed you. I am haunted by how things might have turned out differently if I had been more willing to hear your side of things. For me, it's the end. For you, a chance to grow old and someday do better with your own child than I did with mine. It's for that child that I give you my ring. I don't ask for your forgiveness, or for you to forget. I ask only that you believe this: whether you are now reading this as a human or as a vampire, I love you all the same, as I've always loved you and always will._

_John_

Tears slipped down Elena's cheeks as she came near the end of the letter. She held her father's ring in her hand, her fingers tracing its contours. Her breaking heart stammered out a beat. She folded the letter back up, blinking back tears as she set it back down on her desk, her hands shaking. Her mind played back the letter, and her heart wished she hadn't always shut him out.

It was with these thoughts that she opened the black leather knapsack. She removed the first two small items. The first, she discovered to be the Gilbert pocket-watch device. Elena's eyebrows rose slightly, and she laid the watch next to her, giving herself a mental reminder to place it under the floorboard beneath her bed. The next item turned out to be the Gilbert compass. Just for kicks, Elena opened it. The needle shivered and jumped, snapping unerringly to the closed door. Elena smirked; Damon was eavesdropping. Seemingly unperturbed, she continued to pull out the items. The next items she removed were two objects wrapped in silk, one wrapped in black silk, the other wrapped in white. She unraveled the two and gasped instinctively. They were a pair of Sai blades crafted from finest steel. The thin edges of the sharp blades was covered with lethally sharpened edges of obsidian. Black leather wrapped around the hilts. Elena guessed the steel had been cooled in vervain; the blades bore the fragrance of verbenas. Whispering a small 'thank you', she wrapped the Sai blade back up and laid it by her side. She then removed two more objects which she found to be, one, a stake crafted from finest silver engraved with her name, the name of 'Elena Jessamine Gilbert'; and two, a beautiful silver revolver with nine chambers—six holding wooden bullets, three holding those of silver with a slender pair of boxes containing 18 rounds of silver bullets and 18 rounds of wooden bullets. At the bottom of the knapsack, she found seven vervain cherry bombs and seven vervain grenades. She pushed the knapsack into her closet and sat back down on the bed.

She glanced at the door, holding a grenade. Very quietly, Elena tiptoed to her door, pulled the key from the grenade and set it down at the base of her door, diving back onto her bed. She heard a small whoosh as it cracked open, and she heard the spatter of vervain when it did. Seconds later, Elena heard Damon hiss in pain; the needle of the compass continued pointing that way for a second more before it relinquished and began to shift like a normal compass. Elena smiled victoriously.

**A/N: What do you guys think? I know it's rough. Lily Wolf and starbuckfaery21, please review, I highly appreciate it! I need reviews so I can write.**

**Also a question for you guys:**

**Should I bring John back?**

**What do you think about Elena as a vampire-slayer?**

**Should Damon Turn Elena later in the story?**

**Review and tell me! =D Thanks!**


End file.
